"On the Rocks" slight but a pleasurable trifle that snaps and charms

On the Rocks (2020)

Writer-director Sofia Coppola (2017's "The Beguiled") has made her Woody Allen film with “On the Rocks,” a lovely, inviting cinematic balm that’s perceptively written and reliably well-performed by Bill Murray and Rashida Jones as a father and daughter. It has the snap and fizz of an old-school screwball comedy in a more minor key, but there is also an undercurrent of melancholy to this story about bourgeois, maritally insecure New Yorkers — in a city that might even be a character! Rather than coming off insular or tone-deaf, “On the Rocks” is kept relatable with performances that ring true and Coppola’s graceful eye for lived-in detail.

Rashida Jones is terrific as Laura, a married mother of two daughters and an author who’s in a rut. She can’t seem to write a word of her new book, and when her husband, Dean (Marlon Wayans), comes home after a marketing trip, she finds a female toiletry bag in his luggage. Not about to jump to conclusions but still cautious, Laura thinks Dean might be having an affair with a co-worker. She ends up turning to father Felix (Bill Murray), a Lothario and bon vivant, for advice because, well, he is a serial cheater and might be able to give a male perspective. Felix hasn't always been there for his daughter, but this time, he will stake out with her in his red convertible, while eating caviar as a snack, to figure out if her marriage is worth saving.

Reuniting with his “Lost in Translation” director, Bill Murray is delightfully caddish, fitting the character of Felix—a womanizing Bill Murray-ish character would be named Felix—like a glove. It’s easy to take Murray’s talents for granted, as he is never not interesting and fun to watch, but here, Felix is a quintessential role that helps play to the actor’s strengths. On his own, Felix can work his approachable charm on a cop to get out of a speeding ticket. With a comedically and dramatically deft foil like Rashida Jones by his side, they make each other better with a crackling, unforced interplay. In a couple of supporting roles, Marlon Wayans is likable and never turned into a monster as Dean, and Jenny Slate gladly turns up to play one note, albeit amusingly, as a self-absorbed single mom whom Laura tries dodging at school drop-off to not have her ear talked off.

Ultimately slight but glossy and crisply photographed by Philippe Le Sourd, “On the Rocks” is a total hang of a trifle. There’s never really any doubt that Laura and Dean won’t work out what will turn out to be a misunderstanding, but everyone on either side of the camera is working so effortlessly that the film never becomes a slog. While it feels a little thin to be a particularly resonant experience, much of the film does feel personal, as one can see both Sofia and Rashida connecting to the material with Francis Ford Coppola and Quincy Jones being their respective fathers. Where it counts, it’s just an absolute pleasure to spend time in Manhattan with characters we like. 

Grade: B 

A24 released “On the Rocks” (97 min.) on Apple TV+ on October 23, 2020.